there was an increase to the establishment of about 10,000l. a year.

The right honourable gentleman will also see that since the Isle of Man was ceded to the crown of Great Britain, the whole system of preventing smuggling has necessarily undergone a total change, and a change attended with a great additional expence; before that period our cruisers consisted of small open wherries, which were sufficient to guard our coasts against smugglers, who carried on their trade in the same sort of vessels; but since by the cession of the Isle of Man, the smugglers have been driven to Dunkirk, Gottenburg, and other distant ports, and of course have been obliged to increase the size of the shipping. We have been obliged to follow them, step by step, until we have got to stout cruisers, fitted out with from twelve to twenty pieces of cannon, and well furnished with ammunition, and manned with an adequate number of seamen. Such an alteration in our naval establishment, every gentleman must see, was necessarily attended with a very great additional expence.

The law expences of the revenue have also increased exceedingly, and particularly that part of them which arises from the business of drawing bills for this house. Formerly there were but three bills to be paid for; the great money bill, as it is called, the loan bill, and the revenue bill; of late years, the enlargement of our trade has necessarily caused many bills every sessions, which amount to an enormous expence.

The business of the commissioners of the revenue is infinitely increased, insomuch that instead of meeting at eleven o'clock, and adjourning at two, we are obliged to meet at half-past ten, and sit until four, and often until five o'clock; the increase of business of course is attended with an increase of expence.

The right honourable gentleman has said, that the per centage of the collection has varied very considerably since the year 1758, from twelve to sixteen per cent. The nature of incidental expences is variable, they cannot be otherwise; but the high per centage of one year is not a proof of an increased establishment. For instance, the highest per centage I remember, was in the year 1781; when the collection came to eighteen per cent. in 1782, it cost but sixteen; and yet the actual sum expended in the latter year was higher than that of the former, although the per centage was less, for the per centage does not depend solely upon the number of officers, or their salaries, but upon the proportion which the expence bears to the sum collected; and therefore because in the year 1781, the revenue was very low, and the sum collected small, the per centage amounted to eighteen per cent. whereas in the following year,

when the sum collected was larger, the per centage was but sixteen, although the expence of collecting was higher than the year before. Let the expence of collecting be the same in two given years, and let the sum collected in one of them be doubled that of the other, and the per centage will be but half as much in that year.

It has been the fashion for several years to judge of the expence of collecting our revenue, by comparing it with the collection of the customs and excise in England. Nothing can be falser than such a comparison, because every part of England where officers are stationed is productive, every port brings in revenue to the public, and the excise is universally productive: But what is the case in Ireland? Perhaps gentlemen will be surprised to hear that out of twenty-five ports there are but seven, which pay the expence of collecting, although the necessity of a revenue establishment in the other nineteen is a fact too manifest to require the aid of argument.

I shall, however, to open gentlemen's eyes, just state to the house a few instances:.... Cork and Limerick are two of the productive ports; between them lie Kinsale, Baltimore, and Tralee or Dingle, ports which do not go near to pay the expence of their own establishments; the collection of Kinsale costs one hundred and thirty-nine per cent. that of Dingle one thousand nine hundred and seventy-seven, and that of Baltimore two thousand three hundred per cent. but if these ports even were left unguarded, very little indeed would be collected at Cork or Limerick, the smugglers would soon find an easy way of supplying these two great cities from the inferior ports.

If any man has a mind to judge fairly of the collection of the revenue, let him not go to ports which have no trade, which cannot pay their own establishment, but let him look at the productive ports; in Dublin, where the expence is the heaviest, both in the incidental and established expences, because the greatest part of the law expence is incurred there, and most of the repairs and building of boats and vessels is executed there, and on account of the great weight of the new custom-house expence, and because the salaries of the commissioners and all the princpal and cheque officers are paid there, the per centage amounts to sixteen per cent....in Limerick it is but fourteen, in Belfast but nine, in Londonderry but eight, in Waterford but seven and a half, in Cork but six.

Instead of comparing Ireland with England, it would be more just to compare her with Scotland, in point of reve nue collection, because that her situation and circumstances are more similar to ours. If this be done, it will be found that the per centage in Scotland amounts to thirty-three per

Gent,

But if gentlemen will compare this country with England, they should, I insist upon it, only take the net revenue of England into the account, for the circumstances of England and Ireland are very different indeed in point of importation; the former imports not only for her own consumption, but for that of the whole world; the latter for her own consumption only. England has her colonies in Asia, Africa and America, and she brings home the produce of all these colonies to her own ports, where they pay a great duty at import; but as these goods are not for her consumption only, but to be exported again to other countries, and not only to draw back these duties so paid, but to receive a bounty possibly on the exportation, the real duties returned, that is, the duty on their own consumption, is all that can fairly be compared with the duties of a country which has no colonies, and which imports only for her own use.

Gentlemen who have chosen to compare our collection with that of England, have asserted, that our's cost fourteen per cent. when the customs of England cost but seven. Now, in making this calculation, gentlemen have taken the mere salaries and incidents, as they appear upon the face of the highest customhouse accounts, and have omitted many expences, particularly those of the revenue cruisers and the admiralty cruisers' employed in the revenue service, the expence of which they will find in the late report of the committee appointed to enquire into the state of smuggling, &c. in England. If they take these into the account, they will find it to stand thus:

The gross revenue of customs is in England. £.3,873,985

Expence of collection, as stated in custom

This will be found to be as one hundred are to fourteen, or fourteen per cent. upon the gross....But if you calculate upon the net revenue, you will find it as one hundred are to twentyone, or twenty-one per cent. and in this calculation the expences attending law are not included, which must be very heavy, as all suits are carried on in the Exchequer. So that take this matter in any light, and the statement and assertions of gentlemen will be found to be erroneous.

In 1744, after the union of the boards, this change of our establishment was 5000l. greater than it was last year; a sure proof that the present commissioners have not been wanting in their endeavours to reduce them.

The incidents, I acknowledge, are very great; but deduct 23,000 the expence incurred by the new custom-house, and they are brought into a more moderate compass. We are still endeavouring to cut them down further, and if any gentleman will point out a single article in that account of incidents, now lying on your table, where a saving can be made, I shall be ready hereafter to suffer any censure the house can devise, if such saving be not made.

The next objects taken notice of by the right honourable gentleman are the salaries of the superannuated officers. These salaries arise from two funds, one is a subscription amongst the officers themselves, from which every man who has been a subscriber for seven years is entitled to an annuity proportioned to his rate of subscription. The right honourable gentleman will see that this is the private property of the officers themselves, purchased with their own money, and over which parliament can have no control.

The other fund is the common incidents. As to the pensions granted on this, I confess I agree with the right honourable gentleman, that many of them are very great abuses. Of late, it is grown a fashion for men to get out upon their full salaries : most people would rather be paid for doing nothing, than for doing something. For my own part, I should like it very well myself; but at the same time I know, that while I am able to do my duty I ought to be compelled to do it. I agree with the right honourable gentleman, as to the period of service which should entitle a man to be superannuated on his full salary: forty years was fixed by Sir William Osborne, when first I went into the revenue, but soon after that rule was broken through, and men of all standings allowed to enjoy their otium. However, I must say, that if the board had not frequently remonstrated with government against this practice, the number on the list would have been double at this day. If there are now upon it 343 numbers, as the right honourable gentleman has stated, many of them are widows, who were put upon it by the humanity of Lord Buckingham; during his administration the widows fund failed, and if he had not been graciously pleased to interfere for their relief, these poor people must have starved.

The right honourable gentleman seems to think land carriage officers useless, but I can assure him they are a very necessary set of men. Their duty is to watch the avenues of great cities, and see that all exciseable goods have permits; and the very reason why they do not make seizures is, because their vigilance is known to be so great, that smugglers will not run the risk of bringing their goods past them. However, if land carriage officers make few seizures, it is amply compensated by another set of men, who have no salaries at all, but what arise

from a fund created by themselves....the preventive officers: these men have made very considerable seizures indeed.

Mr. Beresford then proceeded to the hearth-money; pointed out the abuses that had obtained in that department, and the remedies that had been applied; from which he went on to the article of revenue cruisers, agreeing with Mr. Grattan in what he had said concerning them: he also agreed with him as to the necessity of collectors residing within their districts, and as to the propriety of deserving officers being promoted in succession, and the mode proposed of paying surveyors general: in a word, he agreed with the whole of Mr. Grattan's plan of regulation, save only as to custom officers, who, he said, were officers by the common law, were absolutely necessary, and ought not to be abolished.

No. LXXIII.

THE SPEECH OF MR. GARDINER ON IRISH COMMERCE.

[PAGE 78.]

MR. GARDINER said, it is not my fault that this busi ness lies under an additional disadvantage, from the late part of the session in which it is introduced. It is in the recollection of gentlemen, that no endeavours of mine were wanting to bring it in on an earlier day. I must confess this is an arduous business, and far exceeding my strength; but I hope and request the assistance of gentlemen of greater talents than I possess. I only furnish the raw materials, let them erect the superstruc

ture.

I shall, sir, first state the purport of my propositions. This is a measure to restrain importation, but does not affect the ex. portation of raw materials. Gentlemen would have the evidence on that head also included in the report of the committee, but one had no connection with the other. The committee was ordered to enquire into the state of manufactures at large, but they did it partially; they confined themselves to the woollen branch, to blankets, carpets, hats, &c. My system is not confined to these objects only, but also includes paper, hardware,